In the interest of comparison, the Nissan Leaf is to the Nissan Armada what I am to William F Buckley Jr.
You’re welcome to do the math on that one if you want but, I could just save you the time and tell you there is a huge difference.

What the Nissan Armada drives home to me is that somewhere there has to be a family not hampered by the crazy spikes in gasoline prices. My co-host on The Car Show is always quick to point out that, if you can afford it and want it, there should be a product for it. From a capitalist approach I understand that argument but, do we really need a vehicle intended to move people getting 12 mpg city, in 2012.

The Nissan Frontier offers 317 horsepower which is needed due to the weight of the Armada. Actually, a little more would be great. At 12/18 the Armada falls in line with most large SUV’s. That’s good news for Nissan but, is it good enough for us.

I have a twenty-one year old brother who is in many ways indicative of the Gen-Y crowd. Talks a lot of green but drives a Ford Crown Vic. The truth is he could care less about cars. He’s busy laying the ground work for a successful life. So I’ll give him a pass. But, what is interesting to me is how much Gen-Y talks about being green when the Hippies of the 60’s and 70”s seemed far more concerned with the fragile nature of our planet.

Obviously I won’t save the world here. My one contribution may be the untimely use of pop culture metaphors.
The reason I bring this up is because I am very impressed with the Nissan Armada. With the one exception of needing arms with more ability to stretch than Lindsey Lohan’s attorney to turn the station on the radio, I enjoy every minute behind the wheel.

The Armada is extremely comfortable offering leather seating and more eight inch plasma screens than a Starbucks at six in the morning. The Bose sound system is sublime and 8-way adjustable driver’s seat leaves you feeling in command of your ship. The Armada has dual zone Automatic A/C with rear A/C controls so your squids being chauffeured about town can keep themselves cool while you burn more fuel than 50 rednecks at a bond fire.

Another thing about the Armada is its massive list of standard features. On my test car the only options were floor and cargo mats and a rear cargo net totaling $475.00. With a thousand dollar destination charge it brings the cost of acquiring an Armada Platinum $55,400.00.

On the show David and I constantly debate the people mover concept. His view, and I concede he is right, is that if you have many people to move it is far cheaper to move them in one gas guzzler than three cars that get 25mpg. My argument is what happens when the massive ship in not full of passengers.
I guess if Yachts can have dingys then you should have a Nissan Leaf in your driveway next to your Armada. There you’re welcome Nissan